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Hungary
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Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu said the teamâs recent upgrades have delivered the downforce it expected, but the VF-26 still has fundamental handling characteristics that mean the performance is not always usable. Komatsu said: "We brought new parts in Montreal. They have delivered mostly on the areas we expected. The issues we have, when you talk about under-delivery, that's not linked to the upgraded package. It's from race one, Bahrain testing. I think the upgrades have delivered the performance, but the issue is something else, the characteristics. The downforce itself is delivered. But is it a usable downforce or not? Not really, depending on circuit."
Franco Colapinto says Alpine are âtoo slowâ and need to improve their car, despite him scoring a point at the Belgian Grand Prix to keep the team level with Racing Bulls on 61 points in the midfield battle. Colapinto said: "We need to improve the car a lot, we are too slow at the moment. Even though we maximised the weekend with a good Quali and a good race, the car needs to be quicker and we are just losing quite a lot of lap time in some corners compared to the Audis and the [Racing Bulls]."
McLaren junior Leonardo Fornaroli will replace Oscar Piastri in FP1 at the Hungarian Grand Prix, marking his second grand prix weekend outing of 2026. Haas will also run a rookie in first practice, with Toyota's Ryo Hirakawa driving Oliver Bearmanâs car, while Alpine reserve Paul Aron will stand in for Franco Colapinto for his third FP1 session of the season. F1 teams must field rookies in four FP1 sessions per year, split two per car.
Max Verstappen says his pointed radio exchanges with Red Bull during the Belgian Grand Prix are part of keeping the team sharp, and that he âdemands the most and the bestâ from those around him. Verstappen said: "Well, all the things that you mentioned were not related to each other. The tyres were cold, and looking at the laptop was about other stuff. I just like to keep people on their toes. I know that everyone is doing their best, but we are not here for fun, so we have to keep being sharp at every time during the race. I demand the most and the best because that's also what they expect from me."
Mercedes deputy technical director Simone Resta said the team is still struggling to understand the causes of George Russellâs energy deployment deficit at the Belgian Grand Prix. Resta said: "We've had some problems with the deployment on George's car that we really need to understand and bottom out going to the next event. George studied that quite a lot and was able to change it and adapt going into Spa, but still, we can still see some difference in the deployment between these two cars."
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says the team will not use team orders to back Kimi Antonelliâs Formula 1 title bid, despite Antonelli leading team-mate George Russell by 50 points after the Belgian Grand Prix. Wolff said: "Since Barcelona, we would in any case always give preference to the race victory. And if it meant that Kimi or George were ahead, this is what we would do. This is a constructors' championship as much as a drivers' championship. We would never take a victory away from any of the drivers. So if it is George who is ahead, even though he's behind in the championship, at that stage of the season, we wouldn't do that."
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur said Lewis Hamiltonâs five-second time penalty at the Belgian Grand Prix was harsh after his first-lap contact with George Russell at Les Combes, which left Russell in the gravel and out of the race. Vasseur said: "Yes, because so far this season all of the incidents of Lap 1 were considered as racing incidents and, on this one, the person [Russell] had far enough space to not close on the right and go on the left. At the end of the day, it's not me who is making the decision, but it seems tough."
Toto Wolff says the loss of power George Russell suffered on the opening lap of the Belgian Grand Prix was caused by a ânewâ Mercedes engine issue that would not have been spotted on the simulator. Wolff said: "When it comes to [the race], all Mercedes engines had a lack of energy out of Turn 1, so it wasn't only George. It was a new thing. It was something that we wouldn't have identified on the simulator because you need to look for it, and so it was a new issue."
Charles Leclerc says he is still not performing at the level he wants despite a recent step forward with Ferrari, after winning the British Grand Prix and finishing second at the Belgian Grand Prix. Leclerc said: "I'm confident in saying that I made a step forward. Whether I'm at the level where I want to perform, not yet. There are still things in the car that I need to drive around. I cannot drive completely naturally, and that is slowing me down in some parts of the race. But surely it was a step forward, and for that I'm happy."
Lewis Hamilton says he needs to âstep it upâ in focus at this weekendâs Hungarian Grand Prix after a crash in final practice at Spa compromised his Belgian Grand Prix weekend. Hamilton said: "Can't afford weekends like this in a sense of my performance [on Saturday] so I'm going to step it up in terms of focus level for next week."
Valtteri Bottas says Cadillac reassured him âimmediatelyâ that rumours he could be replaced by reserve driver Colton Herta were âcompletely falseâ, adding there will be âno silly seasonâ for him. Bottas said: "It's part of the sport. Sometimes there are some headlines that are not true. But the main thing is, I know the situation. Immediately when we saw the rumours, the team came to me and said, 'These are completely false', and I also know what my situation is, so that's why it's fine. It is nothing new in my career... So no silly season [for me]."
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella says the contact between Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc at the Belgian Grand Prix shows drivers need to leave enough space when running side by side, warning an uncontrolled touch could lead to a âvery bigâ crash. Stella said: "I think in any case, when the cars are staying alongside for such a long time, I think we should make sure that the car that is not on the racing line, because it's defending the inside, does leave enough space. Because if there's a contact that is not controlled, then the crash is going to be very big. So I think there's possibly some learning to be taken out of this case."
George Russell said a lack of power from his Mercedes at the start of the Belgian Grand Prix left him âslower than a Formula 2 carâ, before he retired on the first lap after tangling with Lewis Hamilton at Les Combes. Russell said: "I came out of turn one and I had no power. I got to the top of Eau Rouge with zero percent battery and I was going slower than a Formula 2 car and I got overtaken by three drivers. It left me totally vulnerable."
Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies says the team will âhave a fixâ for its Macarena rear wing for the Hungarian Grand Prix after reverting to its old-specification rear wing for the Belgian Grand Prix. Mekies said: "It was mechanical, and it was two different things. So two different mechanical issues. We will have a fix for Budapest."
Oscar Piastri says the current F1 engine regulations mean qualifying can be decided by computer-controlled energy management, calling it âa pretty crap way of going racingâ, as he defended George Russellâs criticism after Russell struggled with straight-line speed at the Belgian Grand Prix. Piastri said: "I know George has had a lot of issues over the weekend, and speaking to some others, it is a similar story. When you've got qualifying grids decided by computers behaving or misbehaving, that is a pretty crap way of going racing, so [Russell] is obviously going to exaggerate it and make it look a lot worse."
Lewis Hamilton said his crash in final practice for the Belgian Grand Prix had a âknock-on effectâ on Ferrariâs set-up and his qualifying position, which left him further back on the grid and contributed to the opening-lap collision with George Russell that earned him a five-second penalty. Hamilton said: "I take responsibility for my incident, which then had a knock-on effect with the setup not being right, and then [I was] out of place in qualifying. With the setup right, I think we could have been fighting for third, second. It meant starting further back, and then I was in a position with George. It looked like he lost power, and then he swooped around the outside, and we just had a small coming together."
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